Support for gaseous discharge lamps



April 29, 1941. w. F. HODGE 2,240,333

SUPPORT FOR GASEOUS DISCHARGE LAMPS Filed July 17, 1939 Fig.1

INVENTOR William F. Hodge BY l I OTRNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUPPORT FOR GASEOUS DISCHARGE LAMPS William F. Hodge, East Orange, N. J., assignor, by

mcsne assignments, to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application July 17, 1939, Serial No. 284,999 Claims. "(01. 176-122) vide a simple and inexpensive support for a gaseous electric discharge device. A further object of the invention is to provide a support which will maintain such a device in a desired position within an enclosing jacket without deformation under normal conditions of shipping and handling, even after heating to relatively high temperatures such as encountered in some of these devices. Still other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed specification'or from an inspection of the accompanying drawing.

The invention is a new and novel combination of elements as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the manufacture of electric gaseous discharge devices of the type wherein the discharge enclosing envelope is in turn enclosed within a heat conserving jacket forming a permanent part of the device the means of supporting the envelope within the jacket has long been a serious problem. Thus naturally this supporting means has to be sufficiently rigid to afford adequate support to the internal elements under the usual incidents of handling and shipping, but at the same time the supporting means must be slender enough not to conduct any great amount of heat away from the arc enclosing envelope. This confiict in the requirements is further aggravated by the fact that at the temperature at which these devices ordinarily operate the supporting materials commonly used become annealed and lose their strength.

I have now discovered that all of these difiiculties are solved with a novel support of my invention. According to this invention the support is made of relatively thin sheet metal which affords a minimum of heat conduction from the lamp envelope, with which it makes only a line contact. This sheet metal support is given the necessary rigidity by turning over the edges thereof to form a U-shaped girder section. As a further precaution this support is preferably made of a metal of the class which hardens upon the application of heat thereto, whereby the structure is strengthened, rather than weakened, by the heating to which it is subjected during the operation of the lamp. At one end this support has a perforation which will just pass the wire to which it is to be attached, and the parallel sides at this point are separated only by the width of this'hole, whereby the support is fixed against tilting on said wire in one direction. Both of these turned over edges are then welded to the wire, whereby tilting in the other direction on said wire, as well as rotation or longitudinal movement thereon, is entirely prevented.

With this novel structure these welds are easily produced in a single operation by simply inserting the assembly between the contacts of a suitable welder, and hence the entire assembly is extremely inexpensive. At the same time the support rendered thereby to the lamp has been found to be very effective to prevent dislocation thereof even under extremely sharp shocks, much greater than are to be expected in normal use.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown a preferred form thereof in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a gaseous discharge lamp having its inner arc enclosing envelope supported within the outer jacket by means of my novel support,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the support, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same support welded in position on the supporting wire.

As shown in this drawing the discharge device I is of the general type disclosed in U. S. Patent 2,094,694, granted Oct. 5, 1937 to Cornelis Bol et al., wherein the sealed tubular envelope contains a fixed gas, such as argon, and mercury in an amount to develop a pressure of at least several atmospheres in operation. At one end said lamp has a thermionic cathode 2 mounted on an inlead 3, while at the other end thereof there is a similar cathode 4 mounted on an inlead 5. These cathodes are of any suitable activated thermionic type. Adjacent the cathode 4 is an auxiliary starting anode 6. Said lamp I is mounted within an enclosing jacket I of glass or the like which preferably contains a gas, such as nitrogen, at a pressure of the order of half an atmosphere. At one end of said jacket I there is a reentrant pinch seal 8 having a pair of inleads 9 and in sealed thereth'rough. Said inleads are connected externally of said jacket to the verse support member l3 through which the beaded lead to the cathode 4 passes whereby the lower end of the envelope I is supported. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 this support member l3 has a pair of openings II and I5 therein, the

opening l4 being of the same diameter as the extension I 2, while the opening I5 is of slightly larger diameter than that of the beaded inlead which passes therethrough. The edges of this support member are bent downwardly to give a girder-like structure, these edges converging toward the hole II, to which they are tangent, whereby they bear against opposite sides of the extension I2, to which they are spot welded. When made of a metal such as K Monel, which hardens upon heating,-this support retains its initial, or actually increases in, strength during operation of the lamp, despite the relatively high operating temperature thereof. The extension I2 is electrically connected to the inlead to the cathode 4 through a suitable stranded wire. The inlead 9 has a similar extension I6 which extends past the lamp I. The ends of said extensions I2 and I6 each have welded thereto a spring II which bears against the inner surface of the jacket I. At a point opposite the upper end of the lamp I a transverse mica support member I 8 is mounted on the extensions I2 and I6 by means of suitable eyelets I 9 which are afiixed to the mica member I8 and welded to said extensions, the beaded inlead to the cathode 2 extending through a suitable opening in said mica support. Said extension I6 is electrically connected tothe inlead to the cathode 2 through a suitable stranded wire. An electrical connection is likewise provided from the lower end of said extension I6 through a high resistance to the inlead to the auxiliary anode 6.

With this novel structure the support member I3, which is extremely inexpensive and simple in construction, has been found to provide a mounting for the lamp I within the enclosing jacket I which is far superior to any means heretofore devised for use within the limited space available, and which has demonstrated its ability to withstand all the shocks to which these lamp units are subjected, either in transit or in commercial use. In some cases, as where it is not desired to extend the wire I2 past the lamp I, a similar support member I3, attached to the extension IB, may also be'used at the upper end of the lamp I, in place of the mica support I8 shown, excellent support thus being provided for the lamp I.'

While I have illustrated my invention by reference to a particular embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that various changes, substitutions and omissions, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made in the structure shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A support for the vitreous envelope of an electric gaseous discharge device, said support comprising a substantially rigid lead wire, and means to support opposite ends of the envelope in a fixed position with respect to said wire, at least one of said means consisting of a thin. metal support member mounted transversely to said lead wire, said member having an opening at one end thereof which just permits the passage of said lead wire therethrough and an opening at the opposite end thereof adapted to serve as a seat for the adjacent end of said envelope, said support member making a line contact with said envelope, the edges of said member being bent to an angle of substantially 90 with the main portion, said main portion being of substantial width, said edges converging into contact with said lead wire and being welded thereto on both sides thereof. 1

2. A support for the vitreous envelope of an electric gaseous discharge device. said support comprising a substantially rigid lead wire, and means to support opposite ends of the envelope in a fixed position with respect to said wire, at

least one of said means consisting of a thin,

metal support member mounted transversely to said lead wire, said member having an opening at one end thereof which Just permits the passage of said lead wire therethrough and an opening at the opposite end thereof adapted to serve as a seat for the adjacent end of said envelope, said support member making a line contact with said envelope, the edges of said member being bent to an angle of substantially with the main portion, said main portion. being of substantial width, said edges converging into contact with said lead wire and being welded thereto on both sides thereof, said member being made of a metal which possesses the property of hardening at elevated temperatures.

3. In combination, an electric discharge lamp envelope of vitreous material, and an enclosing jacket therefor and means to support said envelope in a fixed position within said jacket, said means comprising a pair of support wires and a pair of transverse members mounted on said wires within,said Jacket and engaging opposite ends of said envelope, at least one of said members being a thin body of substantial width made of metal and having openings therein, the adjacent end of said envelope being seated in one of said openings, the other opening in said metal member having a diameter substantially equal to that of a support wire which passes therethrough, said member having the edges thereof opposite the latter opening bent to an angle of substantially 90 to the main portion and into contact with said support wire, said edges being welded to said wire, said member making a line contact with said envelope.

4. In combination,-an electric discharge lamp envelope of vitreous material, an enclosing jacket therefor and means to support said envelope in a fixed position within said Jacket, said means comprising a pair of support wires and a pair of transverse members mounted on said wires within said jacket and engaging opposite ends of said envelope, one of said support members being a thin elastic body of electrically insulating material fastened to both of said support wires and having an opening therein to accommodate a protuberance on said vitreous envelope, the other of said transverse members being a thin body of substantial width made of metal and having openings therein, the adjacent end of said envelope being seated in one of said openings, the other opening in said metal member having diameter substantially equal to that of a support wire which passes therethrough, said metal mem-'- ber having the edges thereof opposite the latter opening bent to an angle of substantially 90 with the main portion and into contact with said support wire, said edges being welded to said wire, both of said transverse members making a line contact with said envelope, the force exerted by said elastic member on said envelope being sufficient to support said envelope firmly against said metal member in all positions of said jacket and insuflicient to cause rupture of said envelope when said envelope expands and contracts under service conditions.

5. In combination, an electric discharge lamp envelope of vitreous material, an enclosing Jacket therefor and means to support said envelope being a thin body of substantial width made of 10 metal and having openings therein, the adjacent end of said envelope being seated in one of said openings, the other opening in her having diameter substantiallyequal to that of a support wire which passes therethrough, said metal member having the edges thereof opposite the latter opening bent to an angle of substantially 90 with the main portion and into contact with said support wire, said edges being welded to said wire, both of said transverse members making a line contact with said envelope, the force exerted by said mica body on said envelope being sumcient to support said envelopeflrmlyagainstsaidmetaimemberinall positions of said jacket and insuiiicient to cause rupture of said envelope when said envelope expands and contracts under service conditions.

' I WILLIAM 1". HODGE. 

